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We believe in the long term value of Apple hardware. You should be able to use your Apple gear as long as it helps you remain productive and meets your needs, upgrading only as necessary. We want to help maximize the life of your Apple gear.

Sometimes a computer with a lower GHz rating can outperform one with a higher speed rating, and that’s especially true for the 2.5 GHz Power Mac G5 Quad. One of the first Macs to use IBM’s new dual-core G5 CPUs, the Quad uses a pair of them, which means Power Mac owners now have access […]

The first Macs to use IBM’s new dual-core G5 CPUs, the Late 2005 Power Mac G5 Duals and Quad (covered on its own page) provide the processing power of two G5 CPUs on a single chip. Each core has 1 MB of level 2 cache, twice as much as earlier G5s, which further boosts computing power.

Making haste slowly, Apple has moved the fastest Power Mac G5 from 2.0 GHz CPUs in 2003 to 2.5 GHz in 2004, and now to 2.7 GHz in 2005. It’s nice to see Apple squeeze nearly 10% more speed from the G5 – and sad that Apple still can’t deliver the 3.0 GHz G5 that it promised […]

Has Apple heard our pleas for a lower-cost modular Mac? The single processor 1.8 GHz Power Mac G5 knocks US$500 from the price of it’s dual-processor sibling while matching it in almost every specification. The only significant difference, besides a single CPU, is the use of a 600 MHz memory bus vs. 900 MHz on […]

Less than a year after unveiling the original Power Mac G5, Apple released a new line of G5 models, each with dual processors and an 8x SuperDrive. As before, the entry level model uses 64-bit PCI slots and only supports up to 4 GB of RAM vs. PCI-X slots and an 8 GB RAM ceiling in the […]

The Power Mac G5 was introduced on 2003.06.23 – the same day Intel officially unveiled the 3.2 GHz Pentium 4. In terms of increased clock speed, that means Intel had a 6.7% speed bump the same day that Apple announced a 40% improvement in clock speed (from 1.42 GHz to 2.0 GHz), allowing it to […]

Leave it to Apple to completely confuse the market by releasing a “brand new” 1.25 GHz Power Mac G4 model at the same time it announced the first Power Mac G5s. Like the 2002 Mirrored Drive Doors Power Mac G4, this model can boot into OS 9 as well as OS X. It must be time for Apple to […]

The January 2003 Power Mac G4 was the first to require OS X. It was also the first with FireWire 800 ports. A good rule of thumb: If it has FireWire 800, it isn’t meant to boot OS 9, although we have heard of a workaround. The FireWire 800 model was also the first Power Mac with a Bluetooth […]

Apple first hit the 1 GHz mark in January 2002 – and doubled 1 GHz G4 performance with a dual-processor model. Although these look like the earlier Quicksilver model, they run 800 MHz, 933 MHz, and dual 1 GHz G4 processors.

Code named Quicksilver, this was the fiftth computer to share the name Power Mac G4, but the first to be housed in an obviously different case. With processor speeds ranging from 733 to 867 MHz, the G4 had the power to outperform any Pentium 4 machine made at the time. The top of the line was […]

Apple doesn’t make it easy – this is the fourth model using the name Power Mac G4 and the same case. What most differentiates the Digital Audio version from earlier models is the 133 MHz bus on the motherboard with four PCI slots plus an AGP slot, one more PCI slot than previous models.

Stunningly compact, the Power Mac (not Macintosh) G4 Cube came as a surprise, despite numerable contradictory rumors. Just 7.7″ square and a bit under 10″ tall – about the same height at the 2013 Mac Pro, but with a larger footprint – the Cube does everything the iMac DV does (except contain a monitor) – […]

Claiming “two brains are better than one,” Apple introduced the first dual processor Power Macs since the 9600MP, which had two 200 MHz 604e processors. Although Mac OS 9 has some multiprocessing support, until OS X shipped, only a few applications – such as Photoshop – took advantage of the second processor.

lla”Wicked fast” is the phrase that best summarizes the breakthrough performance of the G4 CPU. The Power Mac G4 was the first personal computer classified as munitions and under export restriction because of its power at the time it was introduced.

“Wicked fast” is the phrase that best summarizes the breakthrough performance of the Power Mac G4 – the first personal computer classified as munitions and under export restriction because of its power. Offering up to twice the performance of the Power Mac G3 and three times the power of a Pentium III at the same clock […]

Bold best summarizes the Blue & White Power Mac G3. With an entirely new minitower case design and huge graphics on the side, this Mac would stand out even without the bright color. In a big step forward, these models have 4 PCI slots, one more than previous models, and the B&W G3 is the first […]

The G3 All-in-One succeeded the Power Mac 5000 series for the education market. Key features include the G3 processor and a 15″ multiscan display (13.8″ viewable). The All-in-One was specifically designed for the education market, where less wires and parts to remove are a big plus.

Code named Gossamer, this faster version of the Beige G3 builds on Apple’s success with the 233 and 266 MHz Late 1997 models. In addition to a 300 MHz PowerPC 750 (a.k.a. G3) CPU, the 300 MHz model has the option of a 1 MB backside cache – twice as big as in the earlier models. […]

The Beige G3 is a third-generation Power Mac. It has a new motherboard with a faster system bus than earlier models, a third-generation PowerPC CPU, uses a completely different type of memory, has a different way of upgrading the CPU, and includes a personality card slot. The Power Mac G3 comes in desktop and minitower […]

The Power Mac 5500 was the second PCI-bus Power Mac with an integrated monitor; it replaced the slower 5400. It shipped in 225 and 250 MHz versions. It was available in black in the UK, where the education version was known as the Power Macintosh One. A black 250 MHz “Director’s Edition” was available in […]

The Power Mac 9600 was the last Mac with six PCI expansion slots. It also has 12 memory sockets and no onboard video, so one PCI slot must be occupied by a video card. It shipped from the factory with an ixMicro TwinTurbo video card especially adapted for Apple.

Although it uses the same cleverly designed case as the Power Mac 9600, the 8600 was a less costly, less expandable machine. It has 8 DIMM sockets for memory, four less than the 9600, and three PCI slots, down from six in the 9600.

The Power Mac 7300 is pretty much the same computer as the 7600, except that it has a faster CPU and a special cover that makes it harder to dismantle the case (important in settings where users might steal memory, drives, etc.).

The Power Mac 4400 (7220 in Australia) was Apple’s attempt to build an inexpensive Mac using more industry standard components, such as a chunky PC-like case. It was also available in a PC Compatible system with a 166 MHz DOS card with a 133 MHz Cyrix PR166+ 6×86 CPU (80486 class) and 16 MB RAM.

The Performa 6360 replaced the 6320‘s 120 MHz 603e with a 160 MHz 603e CPU. Fortunately, it also had an improved motherboard design that overcame the most egregious failings of the Road Apple x200 series.